Oilers' Whitney 'little sore' following return

Ryan Whitney hams it up at Edmonton Oilers practice at Rexall Place on Oct. 7. Whitney returned to the Oilers lineup for the first time in 10 months due to a lingering ankle injury.
Perry Mah, Edmonton Sun

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It got to a point where Ryan Whitney was just happy to be back on the ice.

After sitting idle for over 10 months, the Edmonton Oilers defenceman returned to his place on the blue-line Tuesday against the Calgary Flames.

He’ll be out there again Thursday (7:30 p.m.) at Rexall Place as the Minnesota Wild pay a visit.

“I felt like I hadn’t played in almost a year,” Whitney said. “I’m obviously a little sore, but my ankle felt really good (Tuesday) night and that’s a good sign. It was pretty frustrating to be part of a loss especially after a win the night before and being out there for a goal-against is obviously not the way you want to start, but health-wise, it feels pretty good.”

Whitney finished with a minus-one rating, playing over 21 minutes in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Flames.

He had not played a game since injuring his ankle in December.

“I thought as the game went on I got a little better,” Whitney said. “But in the first period, I’d get the puck, look up and there were two guys on me and there were no passing lanes open. Later on, I started finding lanes a little bit and started to move my feet better a little bit. But it was definitely rough, there were some poor choices made by me. It’s tough at the start. You try to prepare yourself for how quick it’ll be, but it’s tough.”

The Oilers are hoping Whitney will eventually find the form that saw him collect 27 points in 35 games last year before suffering the season-ending injury.

At the time, the Boston native was leading the Oilers in scoring with two goals and 25 assists and was an impressive plus-13.

However, it’s been a long road back for Whitney following off-season ankle surgery and countless hours of rehabilitation.

“The ankle is going to be a little sore, but it’s nothing that’s going to be on my mind that much,” Whitney said. “It’s something that when you wake up, it’s pretty sore, then when you get on the ice, you feel it, but once it warms up it gets a little better.

“It’s just that the pace of play is tough, hopefully I’ll get used to it. (Tuesday) night the guys I asked, they considered it a pretty quick game, too, so that make me feel better.”

Whitney, 28, was hoping to be ready by the exhibition season, allowing him to get in some pre-season games.

However, the ankle did not heal as quickly as he would have hoped and needed more time than first anticipated for the pain to subside.

He’s essentially three weeks behind the rest of his teammates as far as game conditioning goes.

“I know I still have a ways to go,” Whitney said. “I put as much pressure on myself as much as anyone. I get frustrated starting at minus-1, but I really have to give myself 10 games and not get too frustrated where I’m at and I’ll really start to get going after that.”

During the peak of his form last year, Whitney was playing close to 30 minutes a night and in all situations.

In Calgary, Oilers head coach Tom Renney monitored the defenceman’s minutes closely and probably played him a little more than he wanted.

“We had Pecks (Theo Peckham) dressed with Hallsy (Taylor Hall) not feeling well,” Renney said. “We maybe would have like to get Pecks a little more ice time, through Whitney’s position quite honestly. But he (Whitney) is no worse for wear today and that’s a good thing.”

There had been consideration made to perhaps sending Whitney down to the Oilers AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City for some game conditioning before suiting up in Edmonton.

However, the Oilers decided they need Whitney in their lineup, even if it’s in a limited role.

“I thought he was fine, he was a little rusty, I thought he maybe had to move his feet a little bit more and at times get rid of the puck sooner than he did,” Renney said. “But he’s got such a great scope of the game and he’s one of those guys that can make those great types of passes.”